Railway car retarder



Nov. 2, 1948. J. A. BODKIN 2,452,720

' v RAILWAY CAR RETARDER Filed Dec. 10, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet l 6.Zhwentor:

JOHN A. BODKIN 8g M attorney Nov. 2, 1948. J. A. BODKlN RAILWAY CARRETARDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 10, l947 I Zhwentor:

JOHN A. BODKFN (Ittomeg Patented Nov. 2, 1948 U NITED STAT ES; FAT ENTOFF! CE RAILWAY CAR RETARDER J ohn'A. Bodkin, New York, N. Y.

Application December 10, 1947,. Serial No. 790,828-

2 Claims. 1

My invention relates to railroads and, more particularly, to auxiliarydevices applied to the rails of railroads.

Objects of my invention are to stop completely or to retard the movementof a car or of an engine. rolling along a railroad, and to prevent a carfromhitting a terminal bumper or to reduce the impact of such a hit.

Other objects are to provide a stationary device that serves as aretarder or stop for railroad cars, and thatserves as a bumper or shockabsorber for railroad cars.

Further objects are to achieve these results with a device that can beeasily and conveniently applied-to any desired part of a railroad track,with a device that can be quickly and securely ailixed' to the rails ofa railroad, and with a device that operates automatically.

Still further objects are to obtain all these results with simple andinexpensive means, and with a device that can be easily made, assembledand maintained in good working condition.

Still other objects and advantages will'appear from the followingdescription of an exemplifying embodimentsofmy invention, from theappended claims and from the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 shows a top view of a broken off part of a railroad trackand of'anillustrative embodiment of my invention applied to this track part;

Fig. 2 shows a cross-section of a broken ofi part of Fig. 1, thiscross-section being taken along the line 22 in Fig. 1 and beingrepresented on a larger scale. 1

Fig. 3 shows a cross-section taken along the broken line 3-3 in Fig. 2,parts of the track and of the embodiment of the invention being brokenoff.

Referring to the drawings, numeral I indicates the ties and 4 indicatesthe rails of railroad which may have standard dimensions. The rails 4cross the tops of the ties I and are affixed to the ties in well knownmanner which is not shown in the drawings.

A plurality of jaw-like members 5 are applied to the rails 4 and arearranged in pairs. One member 5 of each pair engages one rail 4 whilethe other member of the same pair engages the other rail 4. Both members5 of each pair are positioned in a line crossing the rails 4 parallel toand between two ties I. Each member 5 has an elongated portion 6extending under and contacting a rail 4. The outer ends of the members 5form hooks or claw-s I fitting and gripping the outer lower rims 8 ofthe rails 4.

' from the washers I4 to the two auxiliary rails A bolt or rod 9 passesthrough each pair of members 5 and is threaded throughout its length.Nuts I I engage bothends of the rods 9 and secure the positions of therods. Washers I2 are tightly positioned between the nuts II and themembers i5 have openings or bores passed by the rods 9 whereby theauxiliary rails are supported by these rod-s and are slidable in thedirection of' these rods. This sliding direction crosses thelongitudinal directions of the rails 4 and I5 whereby each rail I'5 canbe spaced from the adjacent rail 4. In the shown position, the railsi5are intheir most outward positions and contactthe lower-inner rims I6of the rails 4.

The auxiliary rails I5 are urgedto this most outward positionbycompressed coiled springs ii. The springs I l are wound around therods 9 each rod 9 carrying two springs I I which reach I5. Preferably,the auxiliary rails are provided with:pockets I8 receiving the outerends of the springs l1.

Each auxiliary rail I5 comprises as many cupshaped projections Idas-there are rods 9. The bottom of each cup I9 contains the opening forthe passage of the respective rod. The inner space of the cup form-s thepocket I8. Further, each rail I5 comprises a top ledge 2| extending atabout the same level as the tops 22 of the rails 4, a bottom ledge 23connecting the cups I9 and forming bridges over the ties I, and a wall24 extending vertically in an oblique direction and connecting the topledge 2| with the bottom ledge 23 and with the cups [9. Each rail I5 maybe reinforced by ribs 25 and 26. Each rib 25 runs from the top ledge 2|to one of the cups I 9. The ribs 26 connect the top and the bottom ledgeat the two ends of the rail I5.

The longitudinal extension of the auxiliary rails I5 is substantiallyparallel to the rails 4, except that the auxiliary rails have convergingend portions 21 which are so bent with respect to the main parts ofthese rails that they form small angles 28 with the rails 4. Preferably,both ends of the rails I5 are provided with converging portions 27.

The springs II exert a strong outwardly directed pres-sure on the rails4. In order to counteract this ressure, strong braces 29 may be used.Each brace 29 comprises a broad bracket 31 contacting the outer side ofthe rail 4 under the top 22 of the rail, a reinforcing rib 32 and a baseplate 33. This plate is provided with slots or recesses 3d and 35whereby the brace 29 can be affixed to the respective tie I in wellknown manner by fasteners passing through the slots 34 and 35. Thesefasteners are well known and are not shown in the drawings.

The described device may be positioned before a terminal bumper or atany other spot of a railroad track where cars should be stopped orretarded. The device operates as follows:

Vshen a car rolls on the rails 43 in the direction to the auxiliaryrails 65, the lateral flanges of the cars wheels move along the sides,preferably along the inner sides, of the rail tops 22. These flangesenter the angles 28 whereupon the inner sides of the flanges come intocontact with the top ledges H of the auxiliary rails 55 and urge theauxiliary rails against the pressure of the Springs i'l inwardly as faras necessary to allow the flanges to move ahead between the rails and[5.

While the wheels of the car r011 along the rails 15, the springs i!press the rails t5 against the flanges of the wheels, thereby causingconsiderable friction between the flanges and the rails l5 on one sideand between the flanges and the rails 4 on the other side. This frictionbrakes or retards the car, consuming all or most of the cars impact orkinetic energy.

The braking power of the device depends on the tension of the springsll. This tension can be adjusted according to requirement by turning thenuts 13 around the screw rods 9 in the one or the other direction.

I desire it understood that my invention is not confined to theparticular embodiment shown and described, the same being merelyillustrative, and that my invention may be carried out in other wayswithout departing from from the spirit of my invention as it is obviousthat the particular embodiment shown and described is only one of 1 themany that may be employed to attain the objects of my invention.

Having described the nature of my invention, what I claim and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is:

1. A car-retardin railroad appliance comprising a plurality of parallelrods provided with screw threads, a pair of substantially parallelauxiliary rails extending across said rods, being supported by the sameand being slidable in the longitudinal direction of said rods, aplurality of pairs of jaw members, the jaw members of each pair beingpositioned at opposite ends of one of said rods and outside of said pairof auxiliary rails, said rod passing through said jaw members, aplurality of pairs of nuts, the nuts of each pair engaging one of saidrods outside of said jaw members whereby said nuts are adapted to presssaid jaw members against the outer sides of the rails of a railroadwhile said auxiliary rails are positioned between said railroad rails,and resilient means urging said auxiliary rails outwardly.

2. A car-retarding railroad appliance comprising a plurality of parallelrods provided with screw threads, a pair of substantially parallelauxiliary rails extending across said rods, being supported by the sameand being slida-ble in the longitudinal direction of said rods, aplurality of pairs of jaw members, the jaw members of each pair beingpositioned at opposite ends of one of said rods and outside of said pairof auxiliary rails, said rod passing through said jaw members, aplurality of pairs of nuts, the nuts of each pair engaging one of saidrods outside of said jaw members whereby said nuts are adapted to presssaid jaw members against the outer sides of the rails of a railroadwhile saidauxiliary rails are positioned between said railroad rails, aplurality of pairs of other nuts, each pair engaging one of said rods atspots located between said auxiliary rails, and a plurality ofcompressed springs, each positioned between one of said latter nuts andone of said auxiliary rails.

JOHN A. BODKTN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 265,754 Chandler Oct. 10, 1882FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 29,904 Great Britain Dec. 30, 1912

